Boehringer Ingelheim To Boost Cancer Immunology Portfolio with Novel Cancer Vaccines
Executive Summary
By buying AMAL, Boehringer Ingelheim plans to develop new therapies by combining assets from its cancer immunology portfolio with the biotech’s KISIMA immunization platform, the German pharma’s head of cancer immunology business development tells Scrip.
Family-controlled Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH has bought privately held Amal Therapeutics SA an academic-based biotech whose proprietary technology promises to significantly enrich the German pharma’s cancer immunology portfolio with novel cancer vaccines.
“We made this acquisition because we were really impressed by the quality of science at AMAL, by its unique vaccine platform, called KISIMA, and by their lead asset, ATP128, which is directly in the target indication that is of high interest to our oncology group strategically,” Scott DeWire, who leads cancer immunology business development at Boehringer Ingelheim, said in an interview.
"We were really impressed by the quality of science at AMAL, by its unique vaccine platform, called KISIMA, and by their lead asset, ATP128, which is directly in the target indication that is of high interest to our oncology group strategically.” - Scott DeWire
He said the acquisition of AMAL was in line with ambitions at Boehringer Ingelheim’s cancer immunology group to discover therapies that trigger immune responses against noninflamed tumors, which represent a large group of cancer types refractory to many treatments, including checkpoint inhibitor drugs, DeWire said.
“Within this cold tumor area, we have a number of pillars of interest at BI, notably oncolytic viruses, as seen with our 2018 acquisition of Vira Therapeutics, and in myeloid modulators, and of course cancer vaccines. We have internal research on cancer vaccine platforms and now we have added the KISIMA platform,” DeWire explained.
By presenting antigens to the patient’s immune system, a vaccine can prompt tailor-made responses, including activation of killer T-cells that target the tumor and can boost memory immunity to reduce the risk of relapse, DeWire said.
KISIMA Platform
AMAL’s KISIMA platform enables the assembly of three functional components into one patented fusion protein used as a vaccine: first, a proprietary cell-penetrating peptide for antigen delivery; second, a proprietary toll-like receptor peptide agonist as an adjuvant; and third, a multi-antigenic cargo that can be tailored for specific indications.
“We believe the KISIMA platform comprises all the essential components that a vaccine would need to be an effective therapeutic cancer vaccine,” the executive said.
AMAL’s lead asset, ATP128, is a therapeutic chimeric recombinant protein vaccine designed using KISIMA and currently developed for stage IV colorectal cancer.
AMAL is about to start KISIMA-01, an international Phase Ib clinical study to evaluate the combination of ATP128 with Boehringer Ingelheim’s anti-PD1 compound BI754091 in Microsatellite Stable (MSS) patients with Stage IV colorectal cancer.
“We haven’t announced any other combination plans yet, but if you look at our portfolio, particularly our clinical portfolio in IO and some of our pre-clinical assets, there are things that work well with vaccines and you can see what kind of picture that we’re trying to create with KISIMA.”
He explained, “The KISIMA platform is highly flexible and can be used for either personalized vaccines or even more vaccines like ATP 128 that are intended for broader populations, and as we develop products based on the platform I think the regulatory pathway would be unique for each one.”
Buying the biotech adds a key platform supporting Boehringer Ingelheim’s focus on patients with difficult-to-treat gastrointestinal and lung cancers, he added.
“Our interest in those indications is not necessarily exclusive – but those are the areas that we want to strategically focus on."
He said, “In lung cancer we have a legacy with marketed products and that’s something we want to continue. And gastrointestinal tumors represent a large unmet need and that is an area in which we’d like to get much more active. We try to ensure that our therapies have footholds in either lung or gastrointestinal cancers.”
The total acquisition transaction could amount up to €325m, comprising an upfront payment and contingent clinical, development and regulatory milestones, plus up to €100m if certain commercial milestones are hit.
AMAL will remain at the campus of the University of Geneva in Switzerland and operate as a subsidiary within Boehringer Ingelheim.
DeWire said that arrangement was aimed at keeping AMAL’s scientific creativity vibrant.
“The relationship aims to increase the lines between AMAL and BI without fully taking it in-house and moving it to one of our research sites. We really like the model that the company has, its employees and leadership and the science, and we want it all to continue intact and working,” DeWire explained.
Introducing AI
The acquisition could prompt BI to finally embrace use of artificial intelligence (AI) in its drug discovery process.
“AI is something that many other companies are highly active in. We’re not.” DeWire said. “If there’s a role for AI in our cancer vaccine strategy and in particular for the KISIMA platform, it would be for antigen identification for future products coming out of that platform. We’re not actively using AI for antigen discovery, but now that we have the KISIMA vaccine platform maybe it’s time we should,” he concluded.